Woman fatally shot in Plaza Midwood Saturday
A 26-year-old woman was fatally shot early Saturday several blocks from the popular Midwood Smokehouse barbecue restaurant where she worked in Charlotte’s Plaza Midwood neighborhood.
Charlotte-Mecklenburg police found Katherine Memory Jones, 26, lying in a driveway behind a real estate business in the 1300 block of The Plaza, at Hamorton Place near Central Avenue and popular bars and restaurants.
Jones had a gunshot wound and was pronounced dead at the scene by Medic.
Police said they found Jones after responding to a call of shots fired at about 2:50 a.m.
Police detectives were canvassing the neighborhood for witnesses on Saturday.
“We are going to be leaning on the community to help us through this investigation strongly,” CMPD Capt. Tori Tellis told WCNC-TV at the scene.
No other information was immediately available about the crime.
Jones, who went by “Kétie,” worked for about a year at Midwood Smokehouse, according to Craig Franet, the restaurant’s director of operations.
President Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton ordered barbecue at Midwood Smokehouse after they finished a campaign rally at the Charlotte Convention Center in July. It was unclear on Saturday whether Jones was at the restaurant that day.
On Facebook, Jones listed her job as “hostess” at the restaurant. “She did a lot of everything,” Franet said.
“She was sweet, kind, generous,” Franet said.
He declined to say whether Jones was working on Friday night.
Jones originally was from Asheville and was single, according to her Facebook page. She graduated from Providence High in 2008 and studied theater design the same year at Marymount Manhattan College in New York.
Friends expressed their shock and sorrow on Facebook.
“She was a truly kind and beautiful soul,” one said.
“She was an incredibly kindhearted, helpful, and unique person,” said another.
Co-workers learned of her death when they reported to work on Saturday. Up to a half dozen of her colleagues were so upset that Franet sent them home. Others cried outside behind the restaurant.
“She was family,” he said. “The whole staff is family. Everyone here on Central Avenue is family.”
Anyone with information about the shooting is encouraged to call police at 704-432-TIPS (8477) or Crime Stoppers at 704-334-1600.
Joe Marusak: 704-358-5067, @jmarusak
This story was originally published October 15, 2016 at 12:21 PM with the headline "Woman fatally shot in Plaza Midwood Saturday."